January 20, 2019

As July turned to August, the 1965 Twins found themselves with a five-game lead in the American League heading into an Aug. 2 matchup against a good Baltimore Orioles team, according to Cool Of The Evening, a book by Jim Thielman about that pennant-winning season for the Twins. But rather than wait and let a rookie pitcher... Continue Reading »

October 13, 2018

The Boston Red Sox had no trouble with the New York Yankees and will now face the Houston Astros in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series later today. But before the coronation continues (Boston wins, right?), let’s remember a time when Beantown was flat on its back and had no answer for those... Continue Reading »

September 1, 2018

Fifty-five years ago on Aug. 28, 1963, more than 200,000 people descended on Washington, D.C., for the March on Washington, a watershed moment for the civil rights movement. It was there that Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered “I have a dream,” his most famous speech. The march was considered key to the eventual passage of... Continue Reading »

May 20, 2018

Strib columnist Patrick Reusse recently wrote about Frank Quilici, a former player, manager and broadcaster for the Twins, who died earlier this month. I learned a lot about Quilici, but I also learned this: When the Washington Senators became the Twins in 1961, the first game in the first year of the franchise was played... Continue Reading »

May 3, 2017

Sam Mele, the second manager in the history of the Minnesota Twins and who guided the team into the 1965 World Series, died Monday, according to various reports. Mele, who spent 10 years as a player in the majors, replaced manager Cookie Lavagetto during the 1961 season, the Twins’ first after previously being known as... Continue Reading »

April 10, 2016

At a discount retailer the other day, I came across an old hardback copy of a Rod Carew autobiography, co-written by former sports writer Ira Berkow. I quickly realized it was too tempting to pass up, so I paid the nominal fee and settled in to flap through its 236 pages. Right away I noticed... Continue Reading »

January 18, 2016

Sam Mele, who won 524 games as manager of the Twins from 1961 to 1967, will celebrate his 94th birthday on Thursday. Mele’s tenure with the Twins wasn’t long, but after the Washington Senators relocated to Minnesota for the 1961 season, it also wasn’t long before the Twins showed improvement. Under Mele, the Twins won... Continue Reading »

Hi, I’m Rolf Boone and I love the Twins.

I became a fan of the Minnesota Twins after a friendly wager in the early 1980s. I survived Ron Davis, the meltdown in Cleveland, Phil Bradley at the Kingdome and then marveled at a rising generation of stars and two World Series wins in 1987 and 1991. Brad Radke made the 1990s bearable, while Kirby Puckett’s eye injury, exit from the game and eventual death made it almost too much to bear. The new century ushered in more talent — Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, Joe Nathan, Torii Hunter, Justin Morneau — and consecutive seasons of playoff baseball, followed by consecutive seasons of losing baseball. A winning season returned in 2015. So here we are. Go Twins.